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1. Bare metal printf – C standard library without OS (popovicu.com)
**Hobbyists Rejoice: UART Over Flowers**

The world trembles as hobbyist programmers discover they can write *C code without an operating system*, triggering a seismic shock through the three whole people who still think "bare metal programming" sounds like a cool band name. Comments bloom with tales of UART routines and nostalgic musings about something called "eCos", as legions of weekend warriors pat each other on the back for reinventing the wheel—this time with fewer system calls. Meanwhile, one brave soul bravely declares stdio.h as "1970's hot garbage," ushering in a bold era of printing 'Hello World' directly to a LED display. And somewhere, a student just realized that printf() doesn't need an OS; it just needs a stage to perform its perennial single act comedy.
89 points by todsacerdoti 2025-04-26T21:32:37 1745703157 | 26 comments
2. Watching o3 guess a photo's location is surreal, dystopian and entertaining (simonwillison.net)
**On the Cutting Edge of Guessing Games**
Oh, the marvel of 2025—a machine that predicts locations from your blandest, most nondescript photos, because apparently, Google Maps is just too straightforward. Witness as OpenAI's o3 and o4-mini painstakingly digest snapshots of generic hills and mundane roads, revolutionizing the process of location guessing, previously only endeared by the human brain and perhaps pigeons. On Simon's tech blog, a delightful circus of location-guessing aficionados and software jockeys frolic in the comments, boasting competitive GeoGuesser ranks and sharing tales of AI deciphering the origins of their least memorable vacation pics. Truly, it's like watching paint dry, but if the paint could guess your mother’s maiden name and your childhood address. 📍👀
641 points by simonw 2025-04-26T13:04:08 1745672648 | 304 comments
3. Path is a utility for working with paths (gitlab.com/spyrjagaldr)
In a staggering display of originality that might just collapse GitHub under the weight of its brilliance, an esteemed programmer gifts the world *Path*, a utility that manipulates file paths. The open-source community reels in shock as it dawns upon them that no one had ever, in the history of computing, thought to write such a tool. In the sacred halls of the issue tracker, weekend code-warriors and self-proclaimed software artisans gather to exchange profound thoughts like "Why does this exist?" and "Nice, copied it to my dotfiles." This monumental contribution is poised to redefine the echo chambers of redundant GitHub projects forever. 🤯
12 points by spyrja 2025-04-27T00:27:50 1745713670 | 0 comments
4. Show QN: My self-written hobby OS is finally running on my vintage IBM ThinkPad (github.com/joexbayer)
**Show HN: Keyboard Warriors Rehab** – A lone hero battles the forces of obsolescence by hammering out a hobby OS for his museum-grade ThinkPad, flaunting a security model that pairs well with swiss cheese. Commenters lean in, swapping back-slaps and “nice fonts, bro!” while gleefully ignoring the OS's inability to distinguish between an admin and a trespasser. They suggest fonts with the zeal of typographers at a Comic Sans hate rally. Let's all watch the slow crawl of progress on a screen best viewed in a dark basement. Dive into an echo chamber where code is king, and practical usability is just a pesky afterthought. 🙃
338 points by joexbayer 2025-04-26T12:51:41 1745671901 | 73 comments
5. Bill Gates's Personal Easter Eggs in 8 Bit BASIC (2008) (pagetable.com)
**Nostalgia Injection for Aging Nerds (pagetable.com)**

Brace yourselves, fellow basement dwellers! Pagetable.com takes us on a "thrilling" dive into the world of antique software secrets with a peek at Bill Gates's passive-aggressive coding during his wild youth. Marvel at how Bill cleverly marked his territory in the Commodore PET BIOS, much like a dog peeing on a hydrant, ensuring no one could deny Microsoft's omnipotent coding contribution in the boilerplate legal skirmishes of the late '70s. Meanwhile, in the comment section, armchair historians and wannabe hackers bask in the secondhand glory of Gates, postulating grand theories and reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ of tech, predating their current dystopian gig economy roles. 😂😭
63 points by michalpleban 2025-04-26T19:43:52 1745696632 | 13 comments
6. Amazon Just Happens to Hold Book Sale During Independent Bookstore Day (gizmodo.com)
In an unbelievably subtle coincidence, Amazon decided to redefine 'support local' by launching a book sale over Independent Bookstore Day, sparking a forum full of armchair analysts. Commenters, in a dazzling display of ignorance, swap between crying foul over Amazon's "unintentional" timing and defending their right to save $0.99 on Asimov collections, conveniently located nowhere near their local indie bookstore. One genius points out that bookstores lack computer science texts, clearly a catastrophic issue for the average romantasy reader. Meanwhile, another insists on the superiority of libraries, confusing the debate about owning books with his newfound passion for borrowing them. Amazon, lost in the chaos, continues counting its unintended profits and patting itself on the back for its contributions to digital monopolies.
43 points by pseudolus 2025-04-27T00:04:29 1745712269 | 17 comments
7. Dad and the Egg Controller (2018) (pentadact.com)
In a baffling blend of sentiment and circuitry, "Dad and the Egg Controller" thrills dozens of BBQ fanboys by turning the sacred art of meat smoking into a nerdfest of dials and automated pleasure denials. Watch in awe as the comment section divides itself between true grilling purists—those who feel a primordial thrill from charcoal's capricious flames—and Silicon Valley escapees who believe a good BBQ just can't be managed without Wi-Fi connectivity and a GitHub repository. One might ponder if the real 'meat' of the matter lies in perfecting the feast or avoiding familial duties under the guise of smoke and knobs. Either way, rest assured, the debate will continue to simmer much like a well-monitored brisket. 🍖💻
40 points by wrong-mexican 2025-04-26T20:09:04 1745698144 | 9 comments
8. Tilt: dev environment as code (github.com/tilt-dev)
**Tilt: Yet Another Kubernetes Spin-off Hipsters Love**

In a desperate attempt to make microservices slightly less insufferable, Tilt pitches itself as the savior of dev environments, translated into some YAML spaghetti. A hearty tutorial promises to mollycoddle you through the painstaking journey from code bereavement to Docker jubilation, as if developers really need more things watching their files—because, of course, your 10-layer nested Docker setup pining for Kubernetes is really the epitome of simplicity. Commenters, drowning in their own Docker containers, argue pedantically over testing paradigms and local environment setups, each more desperate than the last to prove their eternal devotion to development optimization. Meanwhile, solutions like nix-shell get tossed around like hot potatoes too advanced for mere mortal understanding. Ah, the modern software development lifecycle: where the tools change faster than you can type `kubectl apply`. 🐳⏳💻
69 points by saikatsg 2025-04-26T19:14:28 1745694868 | 36 comments
9. An end to all this prostate trouble? (yarchive.net)
In a dazzling display of geriatric optimism, the latest entry in the desperate dash to dodge death-by-dribble discusses slicing into prostate veins like a budget Black Friday shopper tweaks old pipes. The Internet experts emerge from the woodwork, boasting technical terms they Googled just moments before commenting, believing firmly they're mere steps away from curing one of man's aging annoyances. Meanwhile, a company CEO pops up with just enough jargon to sound groundbreaking without convincing anyone who's had an actual science class. Commenters oscillate between hopeful naivety and the crushing realization that their private parts might never cooperate again, all while planning which futuristic procedure they'll try next in the bingo hall of medical miracles. 🤡🔧🏥
505 points by bondarchuk 2025-04-26T08:39:29 1745656769 | 222 comments
10. Anatomy of a SQL Engine (dolthub.com)
Anatomy of an Overhyped SQL Engine

Welcome to Dolt, where SQL engines are repackaged in shiny, go-lang buzzwords and delivered with the excitement of watching paint dry. The journey from parsing to result spooling is narrated with the breathless awe typically reserved for more titillating subjects, like watching grass grow. In the magical land of “advanced databases” where users confuse verbosity for insight, the most heated debate isn't about performance—it's whether to pronounce SQL as “sequel” or “S-Q-L.” Comments focus less on the technical prowess of Dolt's SQL engine and more on medieval witchcraft to prevent it from slowing down their already glacial homegrown apps.

19 points by ingve 2025-04-26T22:00:40 1745704840 | 0 comments
11. The Passing of Ucbvax (1994) (ucbvax.berkeley.edu)
In a nostalgic blaze of misplaced reverence, a commenter waxes poetic about the emotional ceremonies of decommissioning ancient hardware. Is there a service for tired tech? Maybe. Meanwhile, tech aficionados engage in a melancholic recounting of VAX's computational glory, conveniently glossing over its belated obsolescence. As the comment thread devolves, each participant eagerly showcases their bygone tech credentials, clinging to the romantic notion that their arcane knowledge holds relevance in a world that has long since moved on. They march proudly in the parade of dusty anecdotes, even though most spectators have already left for the cloud. 🎺💾👴
31 points by ecliptik 2025-04-26T20:02:06 1745697726 | 11 comments
12. Parity (YC S24) is hiring founding engineers to build an AI SRE (in-person, SF) (ycombinator.com)
Title: Saving Humanity One AI SRE at a Time

In the adrenaline-fueled world of not understanding basic on-call responsibilities, a bold startup, Parity, claims to rescue tech bros from the harrowing 2 AM Slack pings that threaten their kombucha brewing time. Parity, fueled by the zillionth round of VC cash injections, is unleashing AI agents to boldly do what every sysadmin pretends is complicated: triaging, rooting, and fixing spooky server alerts. Backed by the mythical Y Combinator and other funds with too much money, Parity promises not only to innovate but also to "define an emerging category," presumably in the league of groundbreaking inventions like the spork. Commenters, most of whom have the collective AI understanding of a slightly advanced toaster, chant in harmony about the inevitable takeover by our algorithmic overlords, blissfully unaware that their jobs are about as secure as a milk crate tower.
0 points by 2025-04-26T22:24:04 1745706244 | 0 comments
13. I Tried Windows Gaming on a Mac and It's Amazing (andrewethanzeng.com)
**Title: "The Miraculous Tale of Gaming on a Mac, Because Why Not Torture Yourself?"**

In a groundbreaking experiment that nobody asked for, a brave soul has taken the "round peg, square hole" challenge to epic levels by forcing Windows games to run on a Mac. Utilizing *CrossOver*, a technological band-aid that yanks Windows apps into macOS with the elegance of a bull in a china shop, our hero discovers he can awkwardly average 40-60FPS on familiar titles—if he squints hard enough. Commenters, quick to parade their allegiance, either bemoan the utter travesty of mixing Apple and Windows or recount their tales from the coding trenches, fighting compatibility issues like valiant keyboard warriors. Meanwhile, the eternally lost naysayers mourn the demise of Whisky, an open-source patch that just gave up, echoing the efforts of using a Mac for serious gaming. 🕹️💀🍎
29 points by indigodaddy 2025-04-26T23:53:59 1745711639 | 51 comments
14. Slinky-Coil Dipole (2021) (nonstopsystems.com)
Title: Ham Radio Hobbyists’ Creative Desperation

Empire of nerdom assembles yet another meticulous list of antennas that fewer than twelve people on the planet deeply care about. The nonstopsystems.com maven dazzles dozens with dishes prefixed by "Slinky" and suffixed by capacities, crowning confusion with acronyms that echo like Morse code in an empty room. Commenters wax nostalgic, reminiscing about the golden age of attic-bound radio and jungle DIYs, bravely fighting the good fight against mainstream antenna setups with a tear for their store-bought Slinkys. Per the usual, admirers of copper wire contortions miss the forest for the antenna trees, proving you can take the operator out of the ham shack, but you can't make them less eccentric.
21 points by rolph 2025-04-26T20:23:32 1745699012 | 3 comments
15. Cloth (cloudofoz.com)
Cloth (cloudofoz.com): A breathtaking reinvention of the wheel, presented on digital fabric for your adoring amazement and feigned surprise. The blogosphere erupts as armchair developers and weekend coders marvel at something video games mastered before they lost their baby teeth. Commenters stumble over each other to drop quasi-technical babble and nostalgic references to prehistoric GPU technology, while one brave soul wonders if their entire lack of a CS degree is to blame for not inventing digital clothes first. It's like watching a bunch of toddlers discover that their blankets can also be capes, but with more blockchain.
415 points by memalign 2025-04-26T05:31:52 1745645512 | 48 comments
16. Stuffed-Na(a)N: stuff your NaNs (github.com/si14)
**Clown College Coding: NaN Edition**

In a digital feat nearly as useful as a chocolate teapot, a brave GitHub coder unveils **_stuffed-naan_**, a library designed to "make use of NaNs". That’s right, folks—where most see digital detritus, our hero sees potential. The library boasts a Kafkaesque "compression ratio of -25%", which, in layman’s terms, means swapping your sleek data for a chubbier version of float64 NaNs—because who doesn't want to bloat their applications with mysteriously unusable numbers? Meanwhile, the comment section evolves from mildly tech-curious into a full-blown geek chorus, singing paeans to the misunderstood NaN, invoking the IEEE-754 like some arcane deity. Extra laughs are provided by a lost soul who mistook the forum for a cooking show and posted a recipe for garlic nan. Surely, the high point of software innovation. 🤓
105 points by dgroshev 2025-04-26T14:04:01 1745676241 | 45 comments
17. CosAE: Learnable Fourier Series for Image Restoration (sifeiliu.net)
**Title: Another Day, Another Fourier Farce**

In an innovative twist that no one asked for, CosAE (Cosine Autoencoder) marries the dusty annals of Fourier series with the overhyped world of autoencoders, claiming to compress images like never before without sacrificing those precious details. 😱 Where traditional autoencoders dare to blur an edge, CosAE saunters in, frequencies and coefficients in tow, boasting a 64x compression rate that will surely save us from the data apocalypse. Meanwhile, the paper's discussion section blooms with tech enthusiasts who just discovered Fourier analysis isn't just a fancy term from their college days but might actually be used for something – if only they could stop concatenating complex numbers like it's a high school science project. And amidst cries for code that's locked tighter than Fort Knox, the authors promise eventual release post-legal hoop-jumping, leaving eager beavers clutching at GitHub's empty repos. Can't wait to decode that!
33 points by E-Reverance 2025-04-26T20:43:22 1745700202 | 6 comments
18. The Friendship Recession: The lost art of connecting (hks.harvard.edu)
**The Friendship Recession: Lost But Not Forgotten?**

Harvard drops a bombshell with its revelation that Americans can't make friends anymore, ostensibly because we've forgotten how to use our communal spaces and are too busy staring at our phones. Commentators dive into a deep sea of existential dread debating if Instagram is the new best friend. One brave soul even suggests that hobbies like repairing old houses might just be the secret to keeping friendships alive – because nothing says bonding like forced labor on a crumbling foundation. Meanwhile, the societal fabric continues to unravel, stitch by self-centered, screen-addicted stitch. 📉📲💔
357 points by 47thpresident 2025-04-26T11:41:21 1745667681 | 281 comments
19. BART's Anime Mascots (bart.gov)
**BART Embraces Kawaii Capitalism**

In an inspiring leap of cultural confusion, BART decides to import Japan's *least necessary* solution to public transit woes: anime mascots. Devotees of San Francisco's beleaguered transportation system have found fresh meat in the announcement, waxing philosophical about the profound implications of chibi goats and reincarnated bunny spirits. Between confusing the livestock with the anime girls and bemoaning their inability to sketch flags and mascots from memory, the cohort of online commentators perfectly mirrors the efficiency and coherence of BART's daily operations. What's next? Astrology-based train schedules? 🚆⭐
64 points by archagon 2025-04-26T19:12:20 1745694740 | 31 comments
20. HTTP Feeds: a minimal specification for polling events over HTTP (http-feeds.org)
Title: HTTP Feeds: Reinventing the Wheel with More Latency

🤖 Once again, the tech world proves that everything old can be new again, as long as you slap "minimal" and "HTTP" on it and strip down functionality to early 2000-era standards. HTTP Feeds emerges as a bold step backward in event streaming – because who needs efficient technologies like Kafka or server-sent events when you can make everything stagger under the robustness of continuous polling? Critics in the comments perform mental gymnastics to justify why adopting this tech is akin to opting for a carrier pigeon in an era of email, while proponents of the spec enthusiastically miss the point. Would be mavericks of the backward brigade champion long polling like it’s 1998, with explorations in limitless loops chalked up as avant-garde rather than archaic. 🔄💤
36 points by sea-gold 2025-04-26T17:12:15 1745687535 | 6 comments
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